Osaka, Japan (SportsNetwork.com) - Rising American Madison Keys was an easy first-round winner Monday at the Japan Women's Open tennis event.
The second seed eased past fellow 19-year-old American Sachia Vickery 6-3, 6-3 on the hardcourts at Utsubo Tennis Center.
In other action involving seeds, No. 3 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine held off American Shelby Rogers 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-1, No. 6 Heather Watson of Great Britain overcame Serb Jovana Jaksic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, and Thai Luksika Kumkhum upended No. 7 American Christina McHale 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. Watson claimed her lone WTA title here two years ago.
Other Day 1 wins came for Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva and Japan's Naomi Osaka and Eri Hozumi, who edged out American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-1.
On Tuesday, top-seeded former U.S. Open champion and reigning Osaka titlist Samantha Stosur will open her week against Japan's Misa Eguchi. Stosur beat Eugenie Bouchard in last year's Osaka finale, captured the inaugural Osaka title in 2009, and was the runner-up here in 2011.
The 2014 Osaka champ will collect $43,000.
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